Aslan Keyboard Player Has Passed Away

The music world is in shock this morning with the sad new about the untimely death of Aslan's keyboard player, Patrick Fitzpatrick.

Patrick was 60-years-old and passed away on Wednesday after a battle with cancer.

"Pat played keyboards with us for over 20 years and was there with us on all the gigs and recordings that we did," the band said in a moving tribute on Facebook.

He was not ours alone, he played with Something Happens, The Blades, Van Morrison and lots of other great bands but we liked to think of him as ours."

Christy Dignam said Patrick's death "left a huge hole behind in our lives, both as a musician and a friend". He added, "It wasn't just music; Fitzy was a lovely human being. He played with such feeling."

Despite battling cancer, Patrick continued to play with the band right up until the end, appearing two weeks ago at the Cork Opera House.

The Blades also paid tribute, releasing this statement: "Pat Fitzpatrick, keyboardist extraordinaire from Belfast became an honorary 'Blade' in 1983. He was classically trained and had attended the Royal College of Music in London. Still I suppose nothing could have prepared him for the nights of mayhem that ensued in ' The Baggot Inn' 'the TV club' and many a country venue where Pat was confronted with the heaving masses of mods and disaffected youth that engulfed the stage during those raucous, riotous early gigs."

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